1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a magnetic fastener for use with a handbag or a like article in the form of a bag or with clothing.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, a fastener which makes use of a permanent magnet is used as a device for fastening a cover piece to a main body of a bag such as a handbag or a brief case or used as a fastening device in place of a button of clothing.
Various magnetic fasteners of different structures have been proposed and put into practical use so far, and one of such known magnetic fasteners includes a fixed element including a permanent magnet, a pair of ferromagnetic plates attached to opposite faces adjacent the magnetic poles of the permanent magnet, and a ferromagnetic bar implanted on one of the ferromagnetic plates and having an opposite end face flush with a surface of the other ferromagnetic plate to form a magnetic attracting face, and a movable element including a ferromagnetic member for being removably attracted to the magnetic attracting face (for example, Japanese utility laid-open Nos. 56-65070 and 56-149416).
Since the magnetic fastener as described has a structure in which magnetic flux from the north and south poles of the permanent magnet are introduced to the magnetic attracting face by way of the ferromagnetic plates and the ferromagnetic bar, equivalently the north and south poles of the permanent magnet are located adjacent the magnetic attracting force. Accordingly, the magnetic fastener has a characteristic that, even before the movable element is attracted to the magnetic attracting face of the fixed element, little magnetic flux is emitted externally of the magnetic fastener.
However, it is very difficult to completely exclude external leakage of magnetic flux from the magnetic fastener. In fact, although such a magnetic fastener has a cover located a little above and around the magnetic attracting face in order to prevent the magnetic attracting face from being directly contacted by any other article, some leakage flux remains even outside the cover.